01 June 2021
The Clockmakers' Charity is pleased to be able to award a grant to young horologist Rebecca Hawkridge.
The grant will part fund Rebecca's second year at West Dean College. Rebecca expressed heartfelt thanks to the Company and shares with us below her journey to horology.
"Unlike a number of my fellow students who have grew up around clocks or have had a special affinity for them throughout their life, my route into horology was a little more convoluted.
Whilst studying for my undergraduate in Conservation and Restoration, the objects that I wished to work on were straying ever further from the curriculum. With a background in art, coupled with electronics and maths, working objects were quickly becoming an area of fascination.
A placement was a required aspect of our course and was initially reaching out to railway and science museum groups before having a conversation with a Newark native, who told me about Upton Hall, the British Horological Institute and opened my eyes to horology as a whole.
I sought a placement with the BHI Museum Trust (now renamed as The Museum of Timekeeping). During the warmer months of 2017 I worked within the museum and was kindly invited to attend the conservation and maintenance weekends; seeing how the horologist cared for the collection. I became instantly infatuated with the field. The history, the complexity and pure satisfaction of having something working. I was smitten.
After saving all my coppers, I eventually got to pursue studying horology full time at West Dean College in September 2020. It is genuinely the happiest I’ve ever been. I love everything about this subject and am so glad to have found this amazing field."
